Check these out

Thursday, 31 January 2013

Who said cats don't like veges? When you consider the crap in the cheap dry food....or the bizarrely expensive "good" food....why not just be creative. He now eats, along with some fish, beans, rice, quinoa or whatever I'm eating! [mixed in with the dry food]. Check it out - pussy eating organic hubbard squash grown by moi! :)

Well I was going to upload a video but the agreement is very scary! So here's a pic for now...but the video is great!

Monday, 28 January 2013

What can we do to keep what is left of the air, water, land? Can you drink the water from the river near you? How many die from cancer-related deaths from breathing the air in your area? Cancer rates are amongst the highest in Southern Ontario - as are the pollution stats! Doesn't a light go off when you get "smog days" in the spring [or ANY time?!!!].
What can we do when politician "work" for the large corporations, such as the oil industry - as this poster reveals at a protest last Spring about the shipment of Tar Sands bitumen to Ontario:

But let us not complain if we drive everywhere and make a market for fossil fuels. Surely they will come from the Middle East instead. And let us not forget the estimated 2,000,000 who died as a result of attacks from the U.S. Perhaps we need to think of the dying children, women, men, plants, air, etc. as we demand convenience and ease!

"Give me convenience or give me death" they chant! Isn't it odd that church goers [or temple goers or shoppers or us all!] forget that James, the brother of Jesus condemns living in luxury and self-indulgence [James 5:1-6 NIV]:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.3 Your
gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you
and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.[a]6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Wow! And most of this cult-u-r-e worships wealth and unlimited "growth"! Oh, and sales....yet this speaks to the demand of justice - fair treatment of workers! Farm labourers have all-ways been ripped off! Hence, even more so the need for unions/protection. And we need to demand their rights - and be willing to pay more for food and other goods - so that the workers don't have to cry out to God in agony.

Using chemicals also leads to more suffering of the workers as they usually don't have protective gear. Regardless, chemicals devour the organisms in the soil, pollute run off waters and then we eat them. Hmmm - do you really trust someone who is making money off these when he says "Oh don't worry, the amount is so small...". Of course this ignores the cumulative effect of many different sources of them and the combinations of them! Common sense: if the chemical kills insects, weeds, etc....hmmmm. how can that be good for me [or the soil, micro-organisms, etc]?!!!

So....let us bow in shame and change our selfish ways! [And demand our politicians, businesses etc. also do - get involved - change yourself and the world!]. Don't bury your head or body in the dirt like Mr. Toad! Or you or others [if you are the rich] will be devoured - metaphorically like this chipmunk!

Friday, 25 January 2013

We sure are demanding as North American consumers! We want our summer fruits in the winter. Not only does this not employ local farmers, but the transportation causes immense pollution - especially for those things flown here. Such is the case with strawberries. While things grown here may also be contaminated with toxins nicely called [but not labelled! - keeping us in a place of illusion and bliss] pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and the like - imported crops may have been grown in/with chemicals banned here [though they could have actually been produced here!]. So where are Health Canada, Department of Agriculture, FDA, etc, hiding when it comes to growing with toxins here, importing food grown in them or exporting the chemicals? We'll discuss that later....and perhaps also how Stephen Harper can allow the exportation of asbestos from Canada when it is, without argument, deadly. Oh yea....business as usual....Back to crops, like strawberries. Picking them fresh in season not only supports local growers, is a fun experience, connects us to the land, each other and farmers....they taste so much better! So how do we have them in the winter then? Freeze them during the summer!

Now let's get serious! The carbon footprint for locally grown ones: 150g C02e [or 600g per kg/270g per pound]. Compare that with those grown out of season and flown in or grown locally in a hothouse: 1.8kg CO2e [or 7.2kg per kg/3.3kg per pound]. With a footprint of over 10 times that of locally grown in season berries, let's hold off or head to our freezer! Figures from How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee.

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Winter also brings the likes of the great grey owl. Majestic with a wing span of 52", length of 27" and yet only weighs just over a kg! A little scary as it swoops down to "the hunter" though. Yet the bird "experts" say no need to worry - cats have claws! :) Yet this bird will attack 5kg rabbits!